Scribd
Upload
171 views8 pages

Comparison of The Broken Rail Detection Systems

The document compares existing rail break detection technologies and identifies their limitations. It then describes RailAcoustic, a stationary acoustic inspection system, as the most reliable and versatile technology for real-time continuous rail break monitoring.

Uploaded by

arshadali13833
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
171 views8 pages

Comparison of The Broken Rail Detection Systems

The document compares existing rail break detection technologies and identifies their limitations. It then describes RailAcoustic, a stationary acoustic inspection system, as the most reliable and versatile technology for real-time continuous rail break monitoring.

Uploaded by

arshadali13833
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Broken & Cracked Rail

Detection Systems
Comparison of the Existing Technologies
for the Railways Industry
There are some methods aiming to detect the rail breaks.

Some of these widely used and traditional techniques are:


Track Circuits: Currently, the most commonly used broken rail sensing method is based on the track
circuit technology. It works with the basic principle of electrical continuity of the rails. However, this method
fails to detect the rail breakages mostly as a consequence of rails being used as a line of return current flow in
the electrified railway systems. The return current circuit uses rails, soil and return current wires in parallel. A
break in the rail may not reliably trigger the track circuit to sense the breakage.

• The current can find other ways to complete the circuits: NO ALARMS even in Full Breaks!
• The half cracks cannot be identified: NO ALARMS at all, if there is not a full break in rail body.
• No Flood Detection Function
• No Landslide Detection Function
• No Train Speed Monitoring
• No Track Temperature Monitoring
• No Flat-Wheel Detection
• No Derailment Detection (for Freight Lines)
Mobile Ultrasonic Maintenance-Inspection Systems (On-Board Systems):
An ultrasonic detection equipment is attached onto a moving rail-vehicle and driven along the track at very
low speed while monitoring the rails for various fault conditions. This method is not a real time fault check
procedure for rails. Mobile ultrasonic inspection tests cannot be performed at any time desired, because it
needs a railway vehicle to occupy the track for long periods of time. For a busy line this is not practical at all.

• No continuous and real-time break & crack monitoring


• No operational use; only for maintenance purposes. (i.e. no flood / landslide/ flat-wheel detection,
and no monitoring capabilities at all)
Ultrasonic Stationary Inspection Systems: Ultrasonic rail inspection systems attached onto
the rails in a stationary form offer a better solution when compared to the previous two methods. But,
continuously changing environmental conditions and different track geometries make this method mostly
unreliable, because the acoustic properties of rails change in time, severely depending on the external
conditions and the sense/decision conditions of these systems vary drastically! Because of the narrow band
characteristics of ultrasonic transmitters, this technique does not offer a good solution for sensing rail breaks
and faults reliably.

In addition to this obstacle, the high frequency ultrasonic signals injected into the rails attenuate rapidly and
the amplitude of the signal drops very sharply. Because of this restriction, it is usually hard to rely on the
ultrasonic signals beyond 1 Km distance or under diverse weather conditions.

• Lots of false alarms during trials in India!


• Needs product development to be completed in the upcoming years
• Lack of diagnostic crosschecks (since the method is patented by RailAcoustic)
Fiberoptic Peripheral Intrusion Detection Systems: Recently, there are some attempts to
use along-the-track fiberoptic based peripheral intrusion detection systems for the purpose of detection of
broken rails. There is a big pitfall in this method for achieving an effective and reliable sensing of the broken
rails; it requires a train to pass through the broken rail segment at least a few times before the system can
recognize the breakage reliably. So, using this technology is not an acceptable broken rail detection method
for preventing railway accidents due to the broken rails.

• Train Derailment Accident Risk is accepted! Needs the train to pass the defected section 2-3 times
• The fiber-optic cable should be laid at a fixed distance and depth at the wayside; physical constraints
• No Flood Detection Function
• No Landslide Detection Function
• No Track Temperature Monitoring
• Seems like it needs lots of adjustments for each specific project which can take months, even for
intrusion detection function.
A BETTER WAY
RailAcoustic® – Acoustic Stationary Inspection System: Currently, the most reliable, real-
time and continuous broken rail detection technology, based on its patented acoustic reflection sensing
methodology… The wideband acoustic signaling regime of the system make it uniquely reliable, precise and
versatile under all weather conditions. It is smart, adaptive, easy-to-operate, fully automatic and
programmable at the same time. It senses breaks, major faults and even some non-critical faults in the rails
before a train passes through the defected rail segment, remotely and automatically.

• Works in 7/24h & real-time basis


• Detects the rail breaks before a train reaches to defected rail zone
• Detection of Full Rail Breaks precisely with exact position info
• Detection of half cracks, as well
• Detection of Flat-Wheel cases
• Flood & Landslide Detection Function
• Continuous Train Speed Monitoring
• Continuous Track Temperature Monitoring
• Derailment Detection (for Freight Lines)
• PROVEN TECHNOLOGY with 1-year successful operation at High Speed Rail
The Most Advanced
“SOLUTION”
The most precise and advanced broken rail detection system is now invented and available
from Enekom. Its name is RailAcoustic®.

The wideband acoustic signaling regime of the system make it uniquely reliable, precise and
versatile under all weather conditions.

It is smart, adaptive, easy-to-operate, fully automatic and programmable at the same time.
It senses breaks, major faults and even some non-critical faults in the rails before a train
passes through the defected rail segment, remotely and automatically.

The whole system consists of a number of sensing nodes laid along the track. Each node’s
normal and safe operational range is up to 2,000 meters. Nodes are linked to each other via
an IP based fiberoptic or RF communication network and connected to the monitoring
computer in the remote control and command center.

You might also like